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Guelph food blogger Charmian Christie, left, got her "naked cake" recipe from her mother, Wynne Christie, right. The family doesn't call them naked cakes, but they have been making them for decades. (RYAN SZULC)

Christina Tosi is the chef, owner and founder of Milk Bar, the bakery-inspired dessert branch of the Momofuku restaurant group. (MILK BAR PHOTO)

A naked cake by Bucket & Whisk: the bottom tier is chocolate espresso, the middle tier is chocolate hazelnut banana, and the top tier is chocolate hazelnut. (MORGAN LUKAN)

“Wedding season 2014 is where the odd GTA bride was going for naked cakes because they saw it in 2013,” says Carr, of Kristine Carr Wedding & Events. “People are starting to see it in blogs, so this season it’s just going to blow up.”

Credit for the naked cake trend seems to go to Christina Tosi, the chef, owner and founder of Milk Bar, the bakery-inspired dessert branch of the Momofuku restaurant group.

Tosi opened Manhattan’s Milk Bar in 2008 with “playfully American” treats like crack pie, cereal milk, compost cookies and birthday layer cake. She didn’t call her birthday layer cake a naked cake, but it is — complete with clever garnish.

Three layers of “funfetti” (rainbow) cake catch your eye. Vanilla frosting is tucked between layers instead of along the sides. There’s an artful pile of birthday cake crumbs on top.

It’s oh so foodie.

Toronto has had its own Milk Bar branch since 2013. Birthday cake, and other desserts, are baked in the company’s Brooklyn commissary and shipped north.

Milk Bar also makes wedding cakes, promising “unfrosted sides to highlight all of the delicious fillings layered inside.” You can mix and match up to six tiers with 13 cake flavours, including birthday, salted pretzel and mint cookies ’n’ cream.

“Momofuku certainly sparked the trend in naked cakes, although Hilary Duff had the first documented naked wedding cake (in 2010),” points out Cindy Coelho, who co-owns the Wedding Cake Shoppe in Toronto with her sister Sarah.

The shop made its first tiered naked wedding cake three years ago. Sales have been steadily climbing, from five per cent in 2013 to 12 per cent last year, with even more orders already for 2015.

“These cakes are more cost effective because they are less labour intensive, as well as compared to fondant-covered cakes, there is less food cost,” points out Coelho.

“And for as many people that love the look, the rest hate it and don’t get it at all. So it’s not for everyone.”

“Some people think you’re missing out on the frosting, but it’s still there. It really just complements the cake,” McNamara points out. “A naked cake looks like a cake, which I love. I want to eat it.”

Bucket & Whisk received about 50 naked cake inquiries last year and wound up making “less than 10.” (That’s partly because it will only make them as an element on a sweet table.)

“We don’t do fondant cakes,” sniffs Lukan, who enjoys “playing around” with naked cakes. One creation was a two-layer banana cake with Nutella buttercream. Another was a three-tiered chocolate cake with espresso buttercream.

Bake Sale Toronto has made a few naked cakes for weddings but decided in December to test the cake at retail level. The bakery created a $95, two-layer “forest cake” with chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream icing to mimic snow and fondant trees.

“We decided to take it out of the wedding realm to make it something you could do for every day,” explains marketing manager Catherine McCulloch, adding the three-branch bakery will probably do another naked cake for Easter or Mother’s Day.

Of course, cakes with bare sides have long been popular with some home bakers.

When Guelph food blogger and cookbook author Charmian Christie first heard the term “naked cake” on Twitter last year, she realized they’re the same cakes her family has been making for decades.

Christie’s 2014 cookbook, The Messy Baker, features a “Boozy Chocolate Torte” recipe passed on from her mother, Wynne Christie. It’s a “thirsty” four-layer chocolate cake soaked in alcohol, with whipped cream between the layers, bare sides, and a pretty top garnished with fruit or nuts and chocolate shavings.

Christie’s mom, born during the Great Depression, was taught to never be wasteful. She made this cake with just one small carton of whipped cream.

“It’s trendy now, but that’s the way we’ve always made them,” says Christie.

“I think they come up with new terms to breathe life into old-fashioned ideas.”

The Messy Baker’s Naked Chocolate Cake

Guelph food blogger Charmian Christie, of TheMessyBaker.com, offers an infinitely flexible, four-tiered “naked cake” based on her mom Wynne Christie’s family birthday cake recipe. It’s adapted from The Messy Baker: More Than 75 Delicious Recipes from a Real Kitchen.

I followed Charmian’s suggestion to pair Cointreau (orange liqueur) with mandarin oranges (canned in light syrup, not fresh ones). She has never made this cake without the alcohol. For Dutch-processed cocoa powder, I bought Cuisine Camino from the natural food area of the supermarket.

Divide batter between 2 prepared pans. (You can weigh pans with a kitchen scale to get them even.) Push batter to edges of pans so cakes will remain relatively flat when they rise during baking.

Bake in preheated 350F (180C) oven until toothpick or other tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 30 to 40 minutes. Let cakes cool 15 minutes. Turn out of pans on to wire rack. Remove parchment paper. Cool to room temperature, at least 1 hour.

Slice each cake in half horizontally using a serrated knife. Alternately, Christie prefers to cut using thread or unflavoured and unwaxed dental floss. Wrap a length of thread/floss around the sides of the cake where you want the cut to be made. Cross the ends of the thread/floss. Pull them gently but firmly away from each other and it will cut through the cake as you pull.

For filling, in large bowl using electric mixer on high speed, beat cream and icing sugar until soft peaks form.

Place 1 layer cake on serving platter/stand, cut side up. Drizzle with about one-quarter liqueur. Spread with one-quarter whipped cream, leaving a ¼-inch (1/2-cm) edge of cake showing. (The weight of the cake will push cream to sides). Dot with one-quarter of fruit/nuts/flavour item of choice. Sprinkle with one-quarter of grated chocolate. Repeat with remaining 3 layers of cake (cut side up if possible, unless you need to do cut side down to even out the cake), liqueur, whipped cream, fruit/nuts/flavour item of choice and grated chocolate. If desired, garnish with another fruit for colour.

Cover. Refrigerate at least 2 hours to overnight so liqueur soaks evenly into the cake and whipped cream firms up.

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